F3 New Orleans

Tag: Waterpik

  • By The Numbers

    It was supposed to be a Cowbell beatdown. YHC brought gloves, as I imagined it’d likely be something tough… maybe a lazy Dora… maybe a merkin ladder as a warm-up. One of those beatdowns that’s a constant push, no 10 counts, pouring Shooter-eque sweat in the first 5 minutes. No mercy, as the sensei of Cobra Kai might say.

    And to be fair, we waited for the Bell and even gave him his standard 5 minute grace period.

    Knowing that he sorta does his own warmup anyway, YHC took the Q and we started with the usual (good mornings, arm circles, SSH, IWs, WMs, etc.), expecting the truck to pull in at any moment. But with warmorama options fully exhausted and no Cowbell in sight, it was time to roll. After all, Pik and Pixie traveled to the AO on foot this morning (t-claps!) and would need to wrap it up quickly to get back.

    First up, mosey to the Marsh for some…

    30’s: 25 t-merkins / 5 hanging knee tucks on the pull up bars. 20/10, 15/15, etc. Next up, some…

    10’s: 9 pull ups / 1 big boy sit-up. 8/2, etc.

    YHC is not a quick thinker to begin with, and this becomes even more true at 0515, so we kept it simple and stuck with the number theme. Back to the trailhead for a true set of …

    11’s: 10 Freddie Mercs (4-count) / 1 Sister Mary K (2 count), with a bunny hop up the stairs because, yeah, that’s what I’ve been into lately.

    Finished up with some Mary: Putins, leg raises, crunchy frogs, LBC’s, and 10x burpees OYO.

    Nameorama and Goose prayed us out. Thanks guys for pushing and letting me lead on this gloriously hot and humid morning!

  • Light June Jaunt

    We’re gonna keep this short and sweet, as YHC is behind the eight ball on these backblasts.  The usual crew posted this morning (minus Shooter, who may still be hauling trees Commando-style out at his camp, and minus Bushwacker, who is attempting to heal a wide assortment of ailments).  Cowbell doesn’t really count, because he is usually “stuck” at the beach anyway on Mondays.  Jose 10k rolled in mid-warm up after a disoriented drive around Old Mandeville finally reminded him of the Marsh location.  

    Warmorama – Good mornings, toe touches, SSH, arm circles, air presses, seal jacks, IW’s, all IC somewhere between 10-20x.

    YHC missed Cowbell’s reopening of the Marsh last week (it’s been barricaded for months), and though it was nice to be able to warmup under on the court again (which could’ve used a Captain Sparkles sweep, btw), we decided to take it on the road this morning.

    Mosey towards the lake, with a stop at each intersection for 15 merkins, 20 squats, and 25 IC flutter kicks.  5 blocks later, we headed over to Rips for a backwards bear crawl up the stairs, followed by calf raises (5x each step) going back down.  Calf raises for the guys either waiting in queue or finished and waiting.

    Already time to head back the way we came, with the same 15 merkins, 20 squats, and 25 flutters at each intersection until we returned to the court just in time.  (Well, ok, maybe a minute late.)

    Pik prayed us out, wishing his brother a happy 40th on this day, and we went on our way.  Thanks gents, posting with you guys is the best way to start the week!

  • 1 Mile Time Trial

    Writing this in a hurry, so i’ll keep it short and sweet.

    9 pax gathered this beautiful gloom for the first 1 mile time trail. YHC has had this on his mind for a long time to set a baseline for himself as well as the rest of the pax.

    We started with some running stretches, including Jose’s favorite high jump skips. The PAX then did an easy 1ish mile run to the starting line on Carondelet and Jefferson. Bushwacker immediately took off on his mile like a bat out of hell, he sorta looked like Eliud Kipchoge, right Akbar!?! While the rest of the pax took a breather and listened to the Q for the countdown..

    We took off and ran 1 mile down Jefferson St and finished at the corner of Lamarque.

    Finishing times were as follows:

    Steve 5:53

    Cowbell 5:53

    Waterpik 6:00

    Bushwacker 6:36

    Goose 6:55

    Speedy 7:30

    Akbar 7:50

    PixieStix 9:00

    Jose 10k 9:30

    We finished with an easy 2ish mile run back to the AO.

    Jose prayed us out.

    Looking forward to seeing the progress the pax makes at the next time trial.

    As always, thanks for letting me lead!!

    Cowbell

  • The Quick Killer

    After missing 2 Q’s last week (1 was excused), YHC was up to Q again and HAD to make it, tropical storm or not…

    Surprisingly, the rain had stopped after a full 24 hour downpour. There was no excuse now! YHC showed up 2 minutes late due to a downed tree covering Lamarque St. The Pax of 3 had already started a warm up.

    YHC jumped in and it went a little something like this…

    COP #1 – Warm up

    Hillbillies X 20, Good Mornings X 10, Mtn Climbers X 20, J-Lo’s X 10, Arm Circles X 12 (6F/6B)

    COP #2- The Thang -YHC had expected rain so planned a stationary workout under the covering on the basketball court.

    5 Rounds – 33 reps, 27 reps, 21 reps, 15 reps, 9 reps

    5 exercises – Merkins, Squats, Sister Mary Catherines, Burpees, Big Boi Sit ups

    Complete all 5 exercises, 33 reps each, move to round 2, 27 reps each, etc.

    The Pax was unusually quiet, @Bird tried to get a little small talk going but it was short-lived.

    COP #3 – Pull Up Circle

    Pax 1 completes 5 pull ups while rest of pax did an exercise

    3 rounds (plank, LBC, American Hammer)

    COP #4 – 6MOM (round robin) all x 20 IC

    Bird- Crunch Frog, Pixie Stix- Merkins, WaterPik- Freddie Mercury, YHC- Penguins

    COT – Announcements (July 15 – Gnarly Nutria!!)

    Thank you for letting me lead!

    Cowbell

  • All Aboard! Hahahaha – 1 Yr Anniversary

    At this time last year, I showed up to my first lakefront beatdown (thanks Russo), and almost didn’t come back. I was a gym rat, couldn’t run a mile, ate like crap, and hovered around 190. But I was intrigued by the companionship of the PAX that day, the leadership focus, how no man was left behind, and pressed on. I attended Saturdays through September, then cancelled my gym membership, and went all in averaging 4 days a week, including the scramble (thanks Shooter). Since then, I’ve lost 25 pounds, done CSAUPS and F2 events, and ran 80 miles last Feb during Run Ranger Run. My only regret is that I didn’t find this earlier.

    PAIN TRAIN

    26 posted (6 under 17) at the mothership Saturday to help celebrate YHC’s 1 year anniversary, and take a ride on the Pain Train. We traveled from the flag to the shaft, stopping at 8 pain stations along the way, accompanied by motivational tunes. *I understand that most songs could not be heard, songs are listed after each station

    Pre-Thang: 2 miler

    Warmorama:  Arm Circles, SSH, Torso Twist, Self-Love, Hillbillies x10 IC

    THANG:  All About the Benjamins – Everything equals 100 reps.

    • Exercise 1: 25 reps at the wall
    • Travel in various ways 55 feet to the flags
    • Exercise 2: 25 reps, run back to the wall Rinse and repeat
    • Total of 50 reps of each exercise
    • All exercises done OYO, plank for the six

    Pain Station’s 1 and 2

    1. Freak Nasty, Bear Crawl, Mountain Climbers
    2. Run, repeat
    3. Dirkins, Flying Nun (Lunge with arm circles), Twinkle Toes (Al Gore calf raises)
    4. Run, Repeat
    • It’s All About the Benjamin’s,  P.Diddy et all
    • C’Mon ‘N’ Ride it (The Train), Quad City DJ’s
    • Crazy Train, Ozzy Osbourne
    • Breathe, The Prodigy
    • Song 2, Blur

    Pain Station 3: Let the Good Times Roll

    Burpees on Good Times Roll, air presses in between.

    • Let the Good Times Roll, The Cars

    Pain Station’s 4 and 5:

    1. Bulgarian Split Squats, Army Crawl, Superman’s
    2. Run, repeat
    3. Stone Mountain, Crawl Bear, Renegade Row (1 arm plank, 1 arm row)
    4. Run, repeat
    • The Kill, Thirty Seconds to Mars
    • Firestarter, The Prodigy
    • Fly from the Inside, Shinedown

    Pain Station 6: The SSH Motivator

    IC 10 full SSH, Shoulder level, down and out, then hands at sides, then 9 each, then 8, etc. non-stop

    • ‘Till I Collapse, Eminem & Nate Dogg
    • Gonna Fly Now, Bill Conti (Rocky Theme Song)

    Seemed easy enough, but what ensued was a painful comedy of errors. YHC had a tough time conveying and keeping the order of positions, which kept us out of synch just a tad. To curious onlookers it must have looked like a bunch of birds trying to take flight.

    After a while it seemed it would never end, why was it taking so long, why do I feel like I’m about to collapse? I kept my gaze at Bushwacker (who brought us The Motivator), seeking some rescue by mental telepathy – but all I got was a big smile.

    Legend has it the Arnold Schwarzenegger and his buddies would go camping and do squats until they couldn’t stand any more. This was not to be our fate, we would persevere!

    Later in the day I sought advice from the engineering mind of Grover and he did not hold back. “You did it wrong dad: the positions were wrong and you did a double count instead of single.”

    Ah, all makes sense now. So we did 440 SSH instead of 220. Way to hang in there guys.

    Pain Station 7

    Merkins on New Day Rising, plank in between

    Pain Station 8: Mary IC

    1. 8 ct Peter Parker Merkins (Perkins) x10
    2. Crunchy Frogs x20
    3. LBC x50
    4. LMC x25

    Count, Name-o-rama, Welcome FNG Laces!

    COT: Prayers for the crazy world we are in, safety, and thanks for blessings.

    Coffeteria: Book and the Bean

    All said and done, including WU and Mary – 1096 reps, 100 yards of crawls, 100 yards of runs

    Thanks for a great year, friendships, pushing me beyond what I ever thought I could do, and the opportunity to lead.

    SYITG – Akbar

  • QUAD-rophenia

    Blame Akbar.  This was his doing, really.  His “block party,” (henceforth known as ‘Akbar’s Abomination’) – which was preceded by Tank’s Murph – pretty much guaranteed that Saturday’s beatdown would focus on legs and core.  

    But first, the pre-thang : the usual 2 miles out and back with the usual suspects.  Now, YHC was definitely not looking at Bushwacker’s butt.  And neither was Tank.  But I mean, really, when the guy’s shorts are that tight and he’s running in front of you, it’s hard not to take note.  Looked like he had those things painted on.  Tank was comfortable enough in his masculinity to throw out a few catcalls.  Though, judging by Wacker’s mustache (which was recently tamed from a Guy Fawkes-type stache to a more respectable – and less anarchistic – Tom Selleck-type), it is possible that he is more in tune with the modern trends of the day and hey, what do I know, maybe the short shorts are making a comeback this year?

    Yes, this was created with MS Paint.

    Back at the flag, there was a surprisingly large group milling about.  Most noticeable were all the 2.0’s.  It was great to see the Baby Yoda, Pope, and Pixie Stick (along with Grover, who is now a fixture at most beatdowns) posting alongside their fathers.  Also of note, the (second) return of Backdraft, who’s already committed to leading in the near future.

    Warmorama: Good mornings, torso twists, IWs, toe touches, SSHs, merkins, shoulder taps, high knees, all at or around 15x IC.

    Somewhere around the SSH’s, Sparky shows up.  Turns out Bushwacker does not stand alone in his love of Magnum P.I.

    The Thang:

    Simple enough opening routine: Lt. Dan’s to the gazebo.  Which, okay, yes, is about 400 yards.  And felt longer.  But at least the guys had some time to catch up.  

    Next, Core COP: The Bruce Lee.  We’d do all six exercises, x20 IC, then take a 30 second break:

    • Hammers
    • Leg Raises
    • LBCs
    • Heel Touches
    • Crunchy Frogs
    • 100’s

    Rinse & Repeat. Initially we were going to do three rounds, but honestly, YHC can’t multitask – I can either call out cadence for 6 routines or I can suffer through them properly, but doing both proved too much for a third round.  So onward to the bridge!

    Partner up for a Dora:

    P1 runs up and over the bridge and back to swap with P2, who begins knocking out the cumulative reps of:

    • 100 Merkin Toe Touches
    • 200 Freak Nasties
    • 300 Squats

    Nearly out of time, YHC called it so we could make it back to the flag promptly.  Double lined Indian Run back to the flag, where we closed it out with a quick set of Jane Fonda’s.

    Countdown, namerama, and welcoming of FNG Pixie Stick!

    Grover closed us out in a prayer of thanks and everyone set out to coffeteria.  YHC feels blessed to have this group of men pushing me to be a better version of myself.  It felt good to be back out there with such a large group (25 men!), and to see the gift of F3 passed on to so many 2.0’s.  Thank you men for the opportunity to lead!  

  • 50 Reasons to Come Out and Play

    As the clock turned 6:30, the pacs who dared to walk outside during the corona virus hysteria, could not help but notice the coupons that were awaiting them for the beat down. But before we get to that, let’s warm up……

    Forward arm circles – 10 IC, Reverse arm circles -10 IC, Overhead Claps – 10 IC, Cherry Pickers – 10 IC, Air presses – 10IC

    At this point there were murmurs among-st the group in regards to my choice of warm up exercises given the coupons that were awaiting them, but those murmurs fell on def ears of the Q.

    Side Straddle Hops – 10 IC, High Knees – 10 IC, Butt Kicks – 10 IC, Imperial Walkers – 10 IC, 10 Merkins – OYO, 10 Plank Jacks – OYO, 10 Groiners – OYO, 10 Eight Count Body Builders – IC

    For those pacs that did not attend this beat down, but are wondering what the coupons could have been. Well read no further, 50 lb Bags of Sand. Each pac gets a partner. Each team of two is responsible for getting their 50 lb bag of sand to the shaft. Pac 1 to carries bag one block, while other pac ran ahead and planked until partner got there. Rinse and repeat until you arrive at shaft. Every one planks until 6 gets there, which in this case, and most cases, was yours truly.

    Keeping with the theme of 50 for 50 lb bags of sand, I kept the reps at 50 for the next group of exercises.

    Keeping your same partner, Pac 1 will run from shaft to designated oak tree and back while other pac performs burpees with bag of sand. Bag gets lifted to shoulders after merkin and groiner of burpee is performed, and bag is than pressed above head at end of burpee. Each team performs 50 in total.

    With same partner, Pac 1 will carry bag of sand overhead with arms extended to same oak tree and back while partner performs crunchy frogs. Rinse and repeat until 50 crunchy frogs are completed between both partners.

    At this point, I could see that the 50 lbs were literally weighing down the group. I decided to quote the great 6 time Olympia Winner, Dorian Yates in an attempt to rally the troops. “Muscle growth is an adaptation to stress.” Not sure if that helped, but I am just a Dorian Yates fan.

    Pac 1 bear crawls to oak tree and runs back to shaft. Before taking off on bear crawl, Pac 1 places the bag of sand on their partners back, so that they can perform merkins. Rinse and repeat until 50 merkins are completed between both partners.

    Time for some Mary…..At this point, many were thinking, yes, some Mary. We get a break from the bag of sand, not so much…..

    Stay with same partner. Partner one performs LMCs – 20 IC while holding bag of sand above their head. Partner two holds plank at elbows until LMCs are completed. . Partners trade off and perform same exercises

    Exercise #2 for Mary was a modification of dead cock roaches. While performing dead cock roaches, the bag of sand is held above head, 20 IC. Partner without bag performs flutter kicks, 20 IC. Partners trade off and perform same exercises. I knew I struck gold with the modified dead cock roached when I heard Grundy say, “These are tough.”

    With only ten minutes to go, I wanted to get a competition in before the beat down was over. Pacs broke into two teams. Object of competition was to see who could stack the bags of sand the fastest without the bags falling over. If your tower of sand fell over, you automatically lost. Only rules were that only one pac could move bag(s) of sand at a time, and the next pac could not touch or move a bag(s) of sand until the previous pac returned. Team 1 got smoked. They finished in 2 minutes and 9 seconds. Team 2, with a FRESH Capt Sparkles, finished in 59 seconds. Zoolander did his best by knocking over their tower of sand before Capt placed the last bag on top. Good effort Zoolander, but we got beat.

    At this point in the beat down, those 50 lb bags of sand had changed to anywhere from 0 to 45 lbs. Thank Goodness. In a collective effort, all packs were able to get remaining bags back to flag by swapping off between each other. Team Work makes the Dream Work. Kudos to Baby Yoda for powering his weigh through this work out. At 68 lbs, he was carrying, pulling, pushing and bag of sand that was nearly 75% of his body weight. The force is strong in that one Bush Wacker.

    The Manny Prayed us out!!!!!

  • Leg Day

    Still smarting from the Downpainment put forth on the Lakefront by Akbar on Saturday, YHC was looking for a reprieve from upper extremity soreness to start the week.

    So, with that in mind, LEGS were the order of the day.

    Mosey to Lakefront stopping at each intersection for: Jump squats, Mountain Climbers, Peter Parkers, Flutter Kicks and SMKs.

    Mosey to Marigny for some speed work. Split the PAX into 2 groups. Object is to go around Noah’s Ark as fast as you can. Rinse and repeat and hold plank while your partner Circled Noah’s Ark. After 2 rounds, YHC, fully exhausted, called off the 3rd set and Hit the Seawall for: Bulgarian Split Squats.

    With time running out, it was time to Mosey back to the Marsh making just in time before the Bell sounded

    COT and thanks to Goose for praying us out.

    SYITG

  • Shin Sprints

    After a brief warm up, mosey down to Lakefront for 10 sprints along Lakeshore Dr. of about 75 yards. Then, legs fully weakened, crank out 2 longer sprints of about 1-2 blocks.

    Mosey back to Marsh for some pull ups, Bulgarian Split Squats (Steve’s favorite), Merkins, finishing up with some core work, especially for Captain Core himself, Sir Wacker.

    COT. Thanks to Akbar for praying us out.

  • He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother

    From Goose: As the PAX circled in the light of a cold Saturday morning, YHC received for the first time as Q the focused look of many men trying to guess the type and magnitude of the pain they’re about to endure. And, though the beatdown wasn’t an overwhelming challenge for most, it was certainly a different experience than they could have guessed.

    Warm-ups consisted of IC: SSH, Seal Jacks, Windmills, toe touches, high knees, and butt kicks. 

    The Thang was varied and sundry:

    First, moseyed to the small open field area before the gazebo and broke into two teams of eight, then into groups of four facing each other about 10 yards apart for 6 rounds of shuttle runs using small cones for moveables. Each round was followed by decreasing numbers of burpees and big-boy sit-ups.

    Then, moseyed about half a mile away from the flag, just over the bridge to a larger open field. Here, in honor of Valentine’s Day, we all got a little closer with some touchy-feely quality time. 

    This started with the Tunnel of Love during which all PAX lined up shoulder to shoulder in plank position while the man on the end army crawled through the tunnel followed by the next until all had wormed their way through and all jokes about overhead clearance were exhausted.

    We then flipped onto our 6 for the Bridge of Hate: all PAX lying shoulder to shoulder as the man on the end lowers himself onto the row of eager hands to be passed, crowd-surfing style, to the end. Each man endured the slow, sloppy process, though wardrobes threatened to malfunction, and the use of knees became necessary to move more than a few men. (Grover, however, being last, was shot like a javelin down the line.)

    This was followed by Three Amigos: the PAX split into groups of three, and each group stood back to back, linked arms, and dropped into a chair-sit position. They then walked in that position about ten yards, completed five copperhead squats together, and squat-walked back.

    We finished in that field with four rounds of exercises (50 LBC’s, 40 SSH, 30 jump squats, and 20 Merkins) each followed by a forty yard sprint into a ten yard army crawl.

    We moved back to flag using a lighter version of a Bataan Death March: Indian Run with the last man stopping and doing three burpees before catching up, tapping the new last man (so he can stop and do burpees), and running to the front. The line was long and the distance short, so most only had one round, but with the time left at the flag, we completed one round of vacuum cleaners and a couple of side-plank domino/waves in a circle. 

    Vacuum cleaners: partner 1 holds partner 2’s legs wheelbarrow-style and moves forward ten yards where partner 1 does 5 Derkins, then moves backwards in the same position to the start before flapjacking. Communication was key for this one, and hand-walking backwards was unexpectedly brutal.

    COT, Count, Name, and Maverick prayed us out.

    Thanks to all who posted for this VQ!  It’s truly an honor to journey with this crew!